THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS
MONDAY, MAY 9, 2005
2412 Iowa
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Josh Hillman,
St. Louis senior, feeds
Brandon
Bowman,
Lawrence
sophomore, ice
cream during
the ice cream
eating contest
for Relay for
Life on Friday
night at
Memorial
Stadium.
Hillman and
Bowman took
second place in
the contest for
the cancer
research
fundraiser.
Rachel Seymour/KANSAN
"The money helps translate research into treatment for cancer patients," Williamson said.
Steve Williamson, division director for hematology and oncology at the Med Center.
Relay
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
Aside from raising money, the event also helps raise awareness about the disease, which is the second leading cause of death among Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Cancer Centers This year, more than 1,500 people will die each day from cancer, according to the CDC.
Cancer has greatly affected Megan Higley's family. Her uncle was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer and her grandfather, grandmother and another uncle all died of different types of cancer.
Higley, Overland Park junior, walked with a group from Sellards Scholarship Hall hoping that the money they raised
would one day
one day help find a cure.
one day help ind a cure.
“This is a chance for us to give back and try to help those who are less fortunate than
us," said Peter Montecuollo, Sloux Falls, S.D., graduate student.
Edited by Laura Francoviglia
Poetry
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
He had trouble with teachers and with grades during grade school, she said.
Growing up as a biracial child in a single parent home wasn't easy for Watkins and his older brother Michael.
Watkins' father was incarcerated more than once during his childhood, leaving both children to be raised by his white mother.
Balancing a mother's work life, the children's' activities and trying to maintain a relationship with an imprisoned father was a struggle for the whole family.
turned black..."
It also was a source of inspiration for four of Watkins' poems.
"You got sons who perceive that/ they grow up to be that/
It's a cycle of death/ even blind men can see that/ but we won't
concede that/ and we won't believe that/ to slave have we
turned back/ our masters have
"—My fear is for you (Young Black Males)"
Encouraging words
Krista said she tried to encourage her children to be themselves and to be blind when it came to looking at the color of their skin.
And even if she wasn't always able to be there, she always wanted her children to be themselves.
When Watkins was in grade school he performed in a school recital, which his mother was unable to attend. Krista was upset she wasn't able to make it. When she got home she pulled out a video camera and had Watkins reperform his part of the recital.
She said she was happy to share that moment with him.
"I walk around with a pound of verbs and nouns/ my, lungs are guns and my words are rounds/ I shot lyrics from the ground so profound the sun came down/ and walked around with a frown at what he found."
- "600 soldiers"
Shaping the future
Watkins kept writing on into college, with encouragement from his coaches, teammates and his wife, Brandi, whom he married last May. Not only did his poetry improve, but he also improved his grades.
On top of graduating this spring with honors, Watkins started his own production company, Layman Lyric, which he used to produce his CD and soon DVD.
He is looking forward to graduation and to his future with his wife. His plans to move to Houston to become an elementary school teacher, he said, were because he thought the key to social equality was education. He felt that he could make a difference as a teacher.
Watkins' CDs will be available at Hastings Books Music & Videos, 1900 W. 23rd St., May 15 and on his Web site www.laymanlyrics.com. He is also currently working on a book of his poetry.
— Edited by Nikola Rowe
www.myownapartment.com
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